Career Journeys Research Articles

Rethinking researching project management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify issues in the long-term development of project workers, their career paths, their contribution to organizational success and their need for equity of opportunity. The long-term development of project workers, their career paths and their contribution to organizational success is explored. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research design using semi-structured interviews was employed to gain an understanding of social and human issues related to careers in project management (PM). By researching the lived experiences and feelings of those pursuing a career in PM the aim was to gain insight into the career journeys and experiences of practicing project managers. Findings Those who choose to pursue a career in PM have the personal characteristics and sufficiently high levels of self-efficacy to deal effectively with the uncertainty inherent in the nature of projects and of project-based employment. Research limitations/implications Participants were drawn from current project practitioners. As a result, the views of those who have worked on projects and chosen not to continue their career in the area have not been gathered. Practical implications Predictions are that there will be a continuing demand for project managers with the capabilities required to deliver successful projects. The challenge for organizations is to create an environment that will encourage greater numbers of people to embrace the uncertainty of project. The findings reported provide insight into how organizations might attract, develop and retain the project expertise they require for success. Originality/value This research provides further understanding into the lived experience of project managers, with a focus on those who have unexpectedly found themselves pursuing a career in PM.

The Professional Journeys and Experiences in Leadership of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Women Bishops

The Problem There are 70.5 million Lutherans in the world, with numbers increasing in Asia and Africa. Currently, only 14% of the Lutheran bishops are women, an increase from 10% in 2011. The role of bishop is a complex leadership position, requiring one to lead up to 150 churches and pastors in a geographical area. With more than 50% of the Lutheran church population comprised of women, their gender and voices are not being represented or heard at the highest levels of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). With one billion women projected to enter the workforce globally in the next two decades, more needs to be written and understood about women church leaders, such as Lutheran bishops. The purpose of this study was to explore the journeys of women who achieved the office of bishop, to glean what can be learned for the benefit of other women who might be called to these higher levels of leadership in the church. The Solution This research suggests that 70% of the ELCA women bishops interviewed had unique career journeys, important spouse support, few women mentors, many challenges, and key leadership competencies required for the role. These findings can be helpful to future Lutheran and other Christian church leaders. It can help current and future women bishops understand what is expected in the role so they can be more successful in it. Leadership development recommendations are also suggested for seminary and higher education administrators and educators. The Stakeholders This research contributes to the literature in human resource development (HRD) by concentrating on the experiences of women leaders in the church—specifically women who have achieved the office of Bishop of the ELCA. The findings offer insights that can benefit scholars and practitioners alike, as well as current and future women leaders across the globe, in the church setting as well as other settings.

Professional Development of Continuing Higher Education Unit Leaders: A Need for a Competency-Based Approach

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of professional development experiences on the career competencies of continuing higher education unit leaders (CHEULs). In the American system of higher education, a CHEUL manages an administrative unit that offers educational programs to adult learners -(Cranton, 1996). To face the challenges brought forth by disruptive innovation (Christensen, 1997), CHEULs need to improve their career competencies in order to perform successfully in their professional role. Participation in professional development experiences is a common way to develop these career competencies. This qualitative study examined the professional development experiences of 10 CHEULs to analyze their effectiveness in building career competencies. Utilizing the portraiture method (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997), six themes emerged from the study: Diversity of Career Journeys, Factors Influencing Participation in Professional Development Experiences, Reasons for Participation in Professional Development Experiences, Types of Professional Development Experiences, Gaps in Professional Development Experiences, and Strengths in Professional Development Experiences. Discussion and analysis of these six themes form the groundwork for a proposed competency-based professional development model to guide the future professional development experiences of CHEULs.

The entrepreneurial middle ground: Higher education entry decisions of aspiring entrepreneurs

The growing demand for more entrepreneurs has engendered a proliferation of entrepreneurship education programmes, which, in different ways, aim to assist aspiring entrepreneurs ‘learn’ entrepreneurship. Yet, understanding the higher education entry decisions of aspiring entrepreneurs is a veritable research lacuna, which creates fertile ground for investigation. This paper reports on an exploratory study investigating the entry decisions of first-year participants enrolled on a recently launched degree programme employing a team-based, experiential approach to learning. The analysis uses an interpretive frame to explore why aspiring entrepreneurs opt for formal education in place of, or alongside, other learning and career journeys. Findings indicate that some participants opted for a university education as part of a positive compromised decision, reflecting the reticence of these aspiring entrepreneurs to ‘go it alone’ in the world of business. In this sense, such experiential forms of entrepreneurial education may provide a suitable ‘middle ground’ for some aspiring entrepreneurs.

Hazy “Career Clarity” Can Career Crafting Bring It into Focus?

This research proposes a new theory for explaining career progression and guiding individuals to chart their career pathways. It focusses tightly on how one thinks about and manages the range of activities involved in making their career. The study examines the career journeys of accounting professionals in mainstream firms and academia in New Zealand. A qualitative approach was used for collecting data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 participants. Analysis used NVivo software. The exploration revealed a continuum of career clarity with respect to formulation of career goals. Only eight participants seemed to have perfect clarity about their initial goals, whereas twenty-four participants have clarity with regard to current and future career goals. The main influences were the deliberate efforts of career crafting, the role of family and organization. Characteristics of crafters are identified, and scope for future research is discussed.

Followership among UK Secondary School Teachers

This paper reports the preliminary findings of an exploratory study which investigates the followership of longstanding, classroom-based school teachers working in the UK secondary education sector. Using Gronn’s (1999) educational leadership formation model as a frame of reference, the study employs a multiple case study methodology with data collected using semi- structured biographical interviews and Kelley’s (1992) followership questionnaire. Focusing on those individuals that have not embraced a formal leadership or management role as part of their teaching career (teacher-followers), the study investigates how these teachers follow and how the characteristics of their life and career have influenced their followership journey. The preliminary findings indicate that followership is characterised by two of Kelley’s five classifications, i.e., pragmatic and exemplary followers. Further, the reported experiences and influences of the teacher-followers in the formative stages of their career are aligned with those reported for teacher-leaders (Ribbins, 1997; Gronn, 1999; Inman, 2007; Mackensie-Batterbury, 2012). Finally, self-belief and confidence; opportunity to lead; and pragmatism are reported as differentiating factors in shaping the nature of the career journeys of the teacher-followers engaged in this study.

The career journeys of health trainers in two health trainer services in England

This study follows the career journeys of health trainers and explores their reasons for becoming a health trainer, their experiences of being a health trainer and where and what they go on to. The study used biographical research methods to explore the experiences of seven individuals in two health trainer services. Individual maps were drawn up to preserve the uniqueness and individuality of each biographical story within its social context. Semi-structured interviews explored their journey using a narrative approach, focusing on the stages of becoming, being and moving forward as a health trainer. Thematic analysis of these interviews identified common themes and differences in the experience. The start of each health trainer's journey is different but there is a remarkable similarity in the experience of being a health trainer. Being a health trainer affirmed the participants' values about 'giving back' to their community. It resulted in improved confidence as well as improved status in the community. All expressed a similar desire to progress within a health field but expressed frustration at being unable to develop a career. This study explored the motivations for lay people to become health trainers using the concept of career anchors. It shows how the role strengthens desires to continue working within a health-related field thus creating a potential future public health workforce. However, the lack of progression routes for individuals creates an obstacle for them to progress. This study raises implications for how policy makers, commissioners and workforce planners can appropriately support this public health workforce.

Educational Innovation: Collaborative Mentoring for Future Nursing Leaders

This article discusses a unique educational partnership between nurse leaders and a university baccalaureate nursing program that nurtures future nursing administrators. A structured mentoring process in which students are guided through an internship with nursing administrators and executives promotes development of a career focus, leading novices to a more mature role on their career journeys.

Career journeys and turning points of senior female managers in small construction firms

There is under‐representation of senior female managers within small construction firms in the United Kingdom. The position is denying the sector a valuable pool of labour to address acute knowledge and skill shortages. Grounded theory on the career progression of senior female managers in these firms is developed from biographical interviews. First, a turning point model which distinguishes the interplay between human agency and work/home structure is given. Second, four career development phases are identified. The career journeys are characterized by ad hoc decisions and opportunities which were not influenced by external policies aimed at improving the representation of women in construction. Third, the ‘hidden’, but potentially significant, contribution of women‐owned small construction firms is noted. The key challenge for policy and practice is to balance these external approaches with recognition of the ‘inside out’ reality of the ‘lived experiences’ of female managers. To progress this agenda there is a need for: appropriate longitudinal statistical data to quantify the scale of senior female managers and owners of small construction firms over time; and, social construction and gendered organizational analysis research to develop a general discourse on gender difference with these firms.

Unpacking stored and storied knowledge: Elicited biographies of activism in mental health

In this paper we consider the potential of autobiographical narratives for accessing ‘storied knowledge’ in research around geographies of health voluntarism. We firstly consider what is meant by elicited autobiography and how the narrative approach has been used in research more broadly. Drawing on fieldwork undertaken in Manchester, UK and Auckland, New Zealand we then demonstrate how this approach has helped us to map out and unpack the career journeys of mental health activists working within and across the voluntary and statutory sectors. Through our autobiographical narratives we illustrate how this approach has enabled us to elicit important insights into the triggers and trajectories underpinning mental health activism and how events and moments in time have provided critical junctures in these trajectories. We consider places as sites of significance in activist career paths; and as central to the researcher-participant gestalt within which the autobiography is elicited and recounted. The autobiographical process, we suggest, offers reflective insights into mental health activism that might not otherwise be gained using more conventional methodologies.

Twenty-first-century headteacher: pedagogue, visionary leader or both?

In recent years the UK secondary educational landscape has witnessed significant change, with the introduction of an ever-extending spectrum of competing government initiatives and policies. This has resulted in the steady erosion of the traditionally recognised role of headteacher. This paper presents the results of a practitioner-based study centred on the professional career journeys of a selected group of senior incumbent headteachers from across Liverpool, United Kingdom. The purpose of the research was to consider key features of difference in the headteacher role over a 30-year period. Five heads were interviewed about how they rose to headship and the influences and events that guided their career choices. Findings include acknowledgement of the requirement for self-directed career development, paucity of skills in preparation for headship, transformation in leadership models and the changing skills, qualities and qualifications required of contemporary and emergent headteachers.

The Intersection of Violence, Crime, and Mental Health

Without doubt, interpersonal violence, crime, and sudden traumatic death remain pervasive public health issues that continue to generate concern and challenges for psychiatric and mental health providers and for society at large. Inherent to the professional pathways of psychiatric nurses, there are often necessary intersections with clients, both offenders and victims, in daily practice and across a wide variety of clinical settings. We are honored to have been afforded the opportunity to be guest editors for this specially themed issue of the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association regarding the ongoing evolution of psychiatric and mental health theory, assessment, and intervention within a frame of violence prevention and response. We have spent considerable time engaged in introspection and concerted discussion surrounding the many challenges and successes within our own research and practice experiences and are pleased with the variety of submitted manuscripts covering a broad array of violence-related topics. We are hopeful that these articles will provide insight into contemporary trends and issues for clinicians confronted with the investigation of violence and crime and for researchers seeking best practices for intervening with both offenders and survivors. This shared journey, including reflections on our career journeys and working with the various authors, has resulted in an expanded awareness. At each fork in the road we, as psychiatric and mental health practitioners, are uniquely positioned to guide survivors as they navigate the chaotic aftermath of

Mentoring as a Bridge to Understanding Cultural Difference

Bridges are thresholds to other realities, archetypal, primal symbols of shifting consciousness. They are passageways, conduits, and connectors that connote transitioning, crossing borders, and changing perspectives (Anzaldua, 2002, p. 1). At its best, mentoring serves as an important bridge in many of the ways described by Anzaldua (2002). When asked to think about our mentoring relationships, I imagine many of us have experienced these critical developmental partnerships as passageways carrying us through the changing terrain of our career journeys or acting as connectors allowing us to transition from one phase or job to the next. Mentoring relationships literally and figuratively provide a way for us to cross borders, to gain access to alternative perspectives, and experiences. In light of a number of shifting demographics, including increasing workforce diversity, globalization, and technological advances, the use of mentoring as a bridge will become more critical as a tool to navigate the changing landscape. Drawing from Anzaldua's (2002) description of bridges as primal symbols, we see that mentoring also draws on archetype. There is an image of mentoring that is timeless--a wise, older person taking someone younger under his wing. What is left unsaid is that in this archetype of mentoring, the mentor and protege are similar to one another; they are from the same clan. Yet, more and more, we are required to work and connect with people from whom we are very different. What happens as we are on our career sojourns and we must interact with travelers from a different land? While the study of mentoring has become more and more popular over the past three decades, there are still gaps in our understanding, places where we don't know as much about how relationships unfold between mentoring partners who are very different from one another because we have not yet paid sufficient attention to increasingly complex and nuanced dynamics. The scenario below describes some of the gaps and highlights the opportunities and the challenges of understanding mentoring in a global context that exist in an increasingly diverse workforce. Meihui is preparing to meet with her colleague, John Young. They met when both were part of a product team in a large pharmaceutical company. After the product launch, Meihui continued to stay in touch with John, getting together occasionally to talk about the different products they were selling, strategies to penetrate target markets and partnerships that they needed to forge to operate effectively. John was always forthcoming about his own experiences in the company. He often had suggestions and strategies, some that Meihui adopted. Although neither Meihui nor John had formally identified their relationship as a mentoring one, she believed that John was a resource to whom she could turn to gain guidance and support. Meihui felt that she could really use some of that guidance in light of her recent meeting with her manager, Adam. Last week, Meihui had completed her annual performance review with Adam. While the overall news was good, there were several red flags. During Meihui's seven years in the company, her performance had been consistently rated as exceeds expectations. Yet, Adam still didn't feel comfortable putting her in front of the high-visibility, high stakes clients. Adam suggested that she needed to develop her presence more. You know your product line like the back of your hand and you are technically proficient. But in order to connect with these clients, you need to fill the room in a space with pretty big personalities. Adam also felt as if Meihui did not assert herself enough. At the conclusion of the review, Adam's parting words of advice were, You know, Meihui, we have a saying--the squeaky wheel gets the oil. I need to hear more from you. Meihui struggled with this advice. What should she do when all that she had been taught as she was growing up--to be more emotionally restrained, to listen and observe rather than jump in the fray and to avoid conflict and challenging authority--clashed with the norms and culture of her organization? …

An alternative view through the glass ceiling

PurposeTo introduce the reader to a new way of understanding how the glass ceiling, the informal mechanisms and structures that slow or prevent women's advancement, may be configured, using capabilities theory.Design/methodology/approachCapabilities theory is used as an analytical lens to evaluate the nature of interaction between the senior women's “internal capabilities” (their readiness to act), and the external “work environment” (work and non‐work factors) that in combination with internal capabilities, constitute combined capabilities. In particular, we reflect on how the character of combined capabilities might effect senior women's perception of ambition and risk and the choices that are made during the “career journey”.FindingsFrom a capabilities perspective, it can be argued that the remit of HRM policy makers regarding the careers of women attempting to break through the glass ceiling needs to be broadened, particularly by those organisations not only wishing to enhance their corporate social responsibility with regards to existing and potential employees but also those wishing to deepen their understanding of workplace inequality.Originality/valueThis paper adds to our understanding of women's career journeys, and is likely to be of interest also to those researching the in areas of workplace equality and diversity and HRM policy and practice.